Castello di Lanciano, Castle and national heritage site in Castelraimondo, Italy

Castello di Lanciano is a stone fortress standing on the left bank of the Potenza River, known for its Renaissance architecture with rich decorative details throughout. The building combines defensive features from its earliest form with later refinements added during subsequent periods of reconstruction.

Giovanni Varano, known as lo Spaccaferro, built the castle around 1381 with thick walls, towers and water channels, plus the defensive ditch called the Intagliata, to guard the north-eastern border of the Camerino lordship near the roads to Pioraco and Matelica. Around 1489 Giulio Cesare Varano gave it to his wife Giovanna Malatesta, who had it remodelled as a Renaissance manor; a plaque in the loggia records the work. After the Varano fell, the Voglia, Rosa, Rossetti and Bandini families held it, and Alessandro Bandini had architect Giovanni Antinori reshape it into its present form.

The castle's museum, named after Maria Sofia Giustiniani Bandini, is closed indefinitely after the 2016 earthquake damaged the structure. It holds a panel of the Annunciation-Incarnation by Antonio Liberi da Faenza, possibly from the Abbey of Fiastra, which the Bandini family acquired in 1773.

The castle is located in Castelraimondo and can be reached by car or public transportation at Localita Lanciano 3. It is wise to contact ahead or check online for current opening hours and what to expect for your visit.

The castle's park has no formal garden but a broad expanse of centuries-old trees crossed by paths and water channels. Inside, the museum keeps a panel of the Annunciation-Incarnation by Antonio Liberi da Faenza, possibly from the Abbey of Fiastra, which the Bandini held from 1773.